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What they said: Phil Mickelson

July 05, 2012
PGA TOUR staff

MORE:The Greenbrier Classic transcripts archiveQ. Phil, 1-over today and you were 3-over after five and you kept battling and battling. A couple of chances to get it back to even. Your thoughts on how you played today??

PHIL MICKELSON: I'm not really sure where to go with that. I don't feel bad about my game. I certainly didn't score what I wanted. I had a couple of mishaps on the green, three-putted from five and eight feet, and I've got to get that worked out. That cost me a few strokes. And then coming down the stretch on 17 and 18 I had good chances to get a couple back and didn't.

I'm looking forward to tomorrow's round. I don't feel like it's far off. I'll look forward to getting back out on the golf course and see if I can make some birdies.

Q. When you saw some of the those scores from the morning round, did you think -- what were you thinking as you came out? Do you think it got a little bit tougher for you guys in the afternoon?

PHIL MICKELSON: I didn't really look. Certainly the afternoon, it's -- scores are usually a little bit higher than in the morning, but there's always that chance if you play well you're going to shoot the same thing. But tomorrow will be a good day to get back out, get good greens, hopefully calm conditions in the morning, and see if I can light it up.

Q. Finally on the putting, when you three-putted from, I think, five feet at 5 and then at 12 you had like a 12-footer and you three-putted from there, explain that to the fan what happened.

PHIL MICKELSON: I don't know. I mean, I don't know how to explain it other than I'm trying to make the first one, I ran it a little too far by, about four feet both times and ended up missing them. It happens, unfortunately. I felt like I let four shots slide there, not just those two.

Q. Good luck tomorrow.

PHIL MICKELSON: Thank you.

Q. What did you think, kind of up and down a little bit??

PHIL MICKELSON: You know, the course is in wonderful shape and I felt like there were some low scores out there today. I didn't play that bad, but I made some mistakes there that was just a little sloppy. And I'll get back out tomorrow and I think I can get a good low round going. I feel like it's not that far off. I feel like I had a lot of good shots throughout the day, but the score wasn't what I wanted, but it doesn't feel far off. I feel like there's a good low score in there tomorrow.

Q. Phil, there were a couple of putts where it just looked like you were short, you weren't even close.

PHIL MICKELSON: Yeah, when you ask the questions of me, you're supposed to be a little bit more monotone, you know? Don't be so emphatic, but you're right.

Q. Sorry, just honest.

PHIL MICKELSON: Yeah, it was a little poor on the greens on some of those short ones, but it doesn't feel too far off. I made some decent putts thereafter, but like I say, it was just a little sloppy. I wasn't quite sharp today.

Q. A few more good scores in the morning, Phil, than in the evening session. Do you think when you go in the morning tomorrow will that help??

PHIL MICKELSON: I think so. I think we'll have smooth greens and hopefully calm conditions and the ability to get it going, because there's a lot of short irons out there, a lot of wedges, 9s that you can really get close to the hole and make some putts. I just didn't quite do it today. It was a little tougher with some of the wind, but there were some low scores if you played well.

Q. What do you think the odds in Vegas would have been on you and Tiger both being T9 [sic] at the beginning of the round?

PHIL MICKELSON: I don't know, but like I say, you know, there's some low rounds out there and there's three more rounds. I don't feel like -- you know, it's one good round will get us right back in it.

Q. Tomorrow the conditions, what do you expect out of the conditions??

PHIL MICKELSON: I think it will be good in the morning, I think it will be a little calm and smooth on the greens, and hopefully I'll get hot with the putter.

Q. Phil, you kind of stumbled out of the gate, but you were able to come in with a 71. What were you satisfied with today and what maybe were you disappointed with today??

PHIL MICKELSON: I thought that I hit a lot of good shots and so I was encouraged by that. I hadn't played in a couple weeks and I had not a great performance at the U.S. Open, so I haven't played well in the last six weeks.

I hit a lot of good shots today, more than I have in the past, but I hit some sloppy ones, too. I was sloppy on the greens and I've got some work to do, but this was a good starting point. Even though the score wasn't what I wanted, I feel like I just want to get right back on the course. I don't feel like there's many adjustments I want to make. I just want to get on the course and see if I can light it up in the morning.

Q. I mentioned you stumbled a bit, 3-over in your first five holes. What do you tell yourself if you get off to a bad start to get back on track??

PHIL MICKELSON: Just to try to fight to get it back to even because the goal is if you can have that first round not hurt you so much, if I can get 5- or 6-under par, I can get right back in the tournament, as opposed to shooting 5- or 6-under just to make the cut. And so being only 1-over, if I can get hot tomorrow, shoot 5-, 6-, 7-under par tomorrow, I should get right in it for the weekend.

Q. And you are an aggressive player. This course was set up for aggressive players. If you get the things worked out, how much are you looking forward to getting out in the morning with better conditions??

PHIL MICKELSON: I think that will be a good chance to go low because there are a lot of short irons into some of these par 4s, and if you are sharp with distance control, you're going to have some good putts at it; maybe not four-footers, but you're going to have within 15 feet. I'm going to have to putt a little better than I did today, but it doesn't feel like it's far off.